Dr. N.L. Kachhara
Another important aspect concerning the structure of the loka is the presence of non-gravitational subtle matter. We mentioned above that this class of matter comprises the associable and non-associable varganas. We do not know much about the non-associable varganas, but information on the associable varganas is available in Jain texts. These varganas are of five types: aharavargana, taijasvargana, bhashavargana, manovargana and karmanvargana. Aharavargana constitutes the protein bodies of the infernal and celestial beings; tejasvargana constitutes the tejas (energy) bodies of all beings; bhashavargana provides the medium for speech and its transmission; manovargana forms the minds of human beings and other five-sensed animals; and karmanvargana constitutes the karma (information) bodies of all beings. All beings in the mundane state have karman bodies, made from karmanvargana, and tejas or prana bodies, made from tejasvargana. We can infer the properties of tejasvargana from the performance of humans.
Prana is an electric force. All physical and mental activities in humans are due to the prana force. This force can act against gravity. Yogis work wonders with the help of prana energy. Yogis can increase the prana energy in the body by practicing pranayama and other yogic exercises. In general, there are three kinds of forces acting on the body: gravity that pulls the body down and keeps it on the ground; biological forces that cause movement in the body; and the prana forces. With the help of biological forces, generated due to metabolic activity in muscles, and acting through the bones, we can lift our limbs up against gravity. This makes walking possible. Jumping may not be possible purely by biological forces; it needs additional upward force, and this is provided by the prana energy forces that act against gravity. So, an athlete practicing jumping has to muster enough prana force for his act.
An increase in prana energy in the body can accomplish other feats. For example:
- Yogic flying. Many followers of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi are seen to practice yogic flying, in which their bodies are lifted up for a short time and the practitioner jumps a small distance in sitting posture. This is supposed to become possible after the practitioner collects enough prana energy to lift his or her body up against gravity.
- On further increase in prana energy, the yogi experiences lift for a greater duration of time and he can walk on the surface of water. This has been demonstrated by many yogis. In this case, the lifting force of prana energy equals the force of gravity on the body.
- With a still higher level of prana energy, a yogi can fly in the air, a feat that is rare. In this case, the lifting force of prana is greater than the force of gravity on the body.
In all of these cases the prana energy is stored in the body space and the body experiences the forces acting on this space. The inference to be drawn from these observations is that the tejasvargana, prana, can produce a force that acts against gravity or has an anti-gravity property. Another feature of prana is that it can travel at astonishingly high speeds. It is mentioned in Jain texts that a soul with a karman and tejas bodycan move, on death, from the middle loka (say Earth) to any heaven or hell in a maximum time of four samaya (samaya is the time taken by a paramanu to move a distance of the size of the paramanu when moving at the slowest speed). This becomes possible because the karman and tejas body is gravity-free and the prana body applies an electric force. Like the tejasvargana, all other associable varganas, and also non-associable varganas, are expected to have such properties. The four-touch matter makes up a significant proportion of the total matter in the loka, and this has an important bearing on the structure and size of the loka.
A complete description of the loka must explain the processes taking place in the material world as well in the living world. Mathematical theories that only consider matter do predict some events in the physical world successfully, but do not say anything about living beings. They therefore do not provide a complete theory of the existence of total reality. As far as the material part of the loka is concerned, we find that paramanus and varganas (excluding GMV) are moving about the whole loka. This means that the same physical laws hold good for all regions of the loka and that the Levels II, III and IV of Tegmark's multiverses are not admissible.
